Protect koalas and return environmental protection to land clearing laws

A future Labor Government will prioritise the creation of national parks, including a Great Koala National Park that protects the remaining koala populations on the North Coast, and hold a NSW Koala Summit to plan effective action across the state.

Labor is not prepared to accept that in a couple of decades from now, koalas will only exist in captivity, in zoos and wildlife parks - we will save koalas in the wild, where they belong.

For five years under the Berejiklian Government, NSW has been without a plan to save the koalas. Meanwhile, scientists warn that on current trends the iconic koala is on track for extinction in NSW by 2055.

The Government’s own 2016 report found that the state’s koala population has dropped by a quarter over the last 20 years and is now home to fewer than ten percent of the nation’s koalas, with just 36,000 remaining in the wild.

Adding to the threats facing koalas, the Liberals and Nationals introduced land clearing laws that will take a chainsaw to trees and native wildlife across the state, including leaving 99% of identified koala habitat open to clearing.

prioritise the creation of national parks that protect remaining koala populations;

hold a NSW Koala Summit to bring together experts and all stakeholders concerned with koala protection to plan effective action across the state; and

work with scientists, farmers and environmentalists to return environmental protection to land clearing and biodiversity laws, and stop the clearing of high conservation value areas like koala habitat.